Friday, February 26, 2021

Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (February 26, 2021)



Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece received. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we aim to write a few lines detailing each press release/piece of news/PR event that we have received and provide links, where possible, for you to find out further information. 

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Allotment Drams / Mackmyra Reserve Cask (Visingsö Sunset) & Blue Spot 7 years old Cask Strength

We have two more episodes of our Allotment Dram video review series for you. First, we join Matt on a freezing cold day as he talks about the Swedish distillery of Mackmyra and their Reserve Cask programme that allows you to own a personal cask of whisky. Watch as he then samples the Visingsö Sunset, a special single Swedish oak cask whisky given to the first Reserve Cask owners in the UK.

On his next visit the weather has warmed up and Matt takes a look at the Blue Spot, the final piece of the jigsaw in the Spot Whiskey family from Irish Distillers. The whiskey, which was released back in November, carries a 7 year old age statement with each batch going to be bottled at cask strength. Watch as he talks about the range and then samples this newest addition, giving his thoughts and tasting notes.

To keep up-to-date with our latest videos and to watch other episodes of the Allotment Dram series, then please visit our YouTube channel and subscribe - click here.





 

#AllotmentDram

 

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Review / The One Moscatel Wine Cask Finished

 

The Moscatel Wine Cask Finished is the latest edition to the range of The One blended whiskies from The Lakes Distillery. The One is a series of whiskies, all of which use exactly the same blend that is then finished in different cask types. The blend has The Lakes single malt at its heart and also features single grain and single malt whiskies from the Highland, Islay and Speyside regions of Scotland. The One Moscatel Wine Cask Finished has seen the blend matured for the final months in ex-Moscatel sweet wine barrels sourced from the Cádiz province of Andalucia in the south of Spain.

Monday, February 22, 2021

Review / Midleton Very Rare 2021 Edition


This is the latest release by the super premium Irish whiskey brand of Midleton to its annual Very Rare series - the Midleton Very Rare 2021 Edition. It is the 38th bottling in the legendary series. The new edition marks the first to be created by Kevin O'Gorman who is only the third Master Distiller of the series since it first appeared in 1984 and follows Barry Crockett and Brian Nation. The 2021 Edition is made using old and rare single grain and single pot still whiskeys aged between 15 and 36 years of age, including some distilled in 1984 as a homage to the origins of the series. All the whiskeys used have been matured in American oak, which is in keeping with previous editions of the Very Rare series.

Friday, February 19, 2021

Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (February 19, 2021)



Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece received. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we aim to write a few lines detailing each press release/piece of news/PR event that we have received and provide links, where possible, for you to find out further information. 

Thursday, February 18, 2021

News / Japanese Whisky Laws To Change


Big things are about to happen within the Japanese whisky industry with the announcement this week of a change to the laws governing the labelling of products from Japan. These have been drawn up to tackle growing concern that the reputation and sales of Japanese whisky, both of which have grown rapidly over the last decade, could be irreparably harmed if not acted upon. The current loose regulations can mislead customers, with the newly announced ones offering more transparency so that consumers know what they are purchasing and drinking.

At the core of this is that many Japanese whiskies are not what they appear to be - ie : they may not actually be Japanese. Many brands actually include whiskies from other countries (such as America, Australia, Canada, Ireland and Scotland) alongside Japanese whisky in the blend. In some cases there can be no Japanese whisky present at all in a 'Japanese' blend. 

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

Review / Starward Left-Field


The Left-Field is the latest whisky released to the core single malt range of the Australian distillery Starward. The whisky combines their Australian single malt with the influence of Australian red wine barrels. Left-Field has been fully matured in French oak ex-Cabernet, ex-Pinot Noir and ex-Shiraz barrels sourced from wineries in the Barossa Valley and Yarra Valley wine regions. These have been aged seperately before being married together to create Left-Field. It joins two other single malts, the Nova and Solera, and a blend named Two-Fold in the current core range. These are supplimented by limited editions and collaborations on occassion.

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Allotment Drams / Sadler's Peaky Blinder Blended Irish Whiskey & Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 9

We have two more episodes of our Allotment Dram whisky review series for you. First, Matt goes Irish and blended as he talks about the Sadler's Blended Irish Whiskey from their Peaky Blinder range of spirits. Learn about the brand and then hear his thoughts and tasting notes about this budget dram.

Then for his next visit, which is on a freezing cold day, he takes a look at the brand new Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 9 - the latest release in the annual cult limited edition series from the east Highland single malt distillery. Find out details of this year's bottling, plus Matt's thoughts and tasting notes.

To keep up-to-date with our latest videos and to subscribe to our YouTube channel - click here.






#AllotmentDram

 

Friday, February 12, 2021

Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (February 12, 2021)



Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece received. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we aim to write a few lines detailing each press release/piece of news/PR event that we have received and provide links, where possible, for you to find out further information. 

Thursday, February 11, 2021

Review / Whisky Works Quartermaster 11 years old


The Quartermaster is a blended Scotch whisky that forms part of Whisky Works, an experimental range of whiskies that have been developed by Whyte & Mackay. This whisky features both single grain from the Highlands and two Speyside single malts. The grain whisky was matured in ex-rum casks before being finished in ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry casks, while one single malt was matured in American white oak ex-bourbon barrels and the other in ex-sherry butts. The minimum age of all the whiskies involved is 11 years and there are just 2,134 bottles created. Please note - this whisky was released in October 2019, but most major retailers are showing it as still in stock.

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Review / Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 9


This new single malt is the latest bottling in the highly anticipated Cask Strength series from the east Highland distillery of Glendronach, which is normally released annually. The Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 9 has been slightly delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and each batch is made to be different and have its own personal character. Batch 9 has seen whiskies matured in both ex-Oloroso and ex-Pedro Ximénez sherry casks of differing sizes (both puncheons and butts are included). These have been selected at different ages  before being married together by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Glendronach.

Friday, February 5, 2021

Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (February 5, 2021)



Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece received. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we aim to write a few lines detailing each press release/piece of news/PR event that we have received and provide links, where possible, for you to find out further information. 

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Review / John Crabbie & Co. 1992 Single Cask



This whisky is a new limited edition single malt from the Edinburgh-based brand of John Crabbie & Co. It joins a core range that features Crabbie's Yardhead and age statements of 8, 12, 15 and 30 years old, plus a growing number of such single cask releases. These have recently included the 1994 25 years old single cask from the Tobermory distillery on the isle of Mull and a 50 years old single cask from an un-named Islay distillery, both of which are still available.

This single cask was distilled at an un-named distillery in Speyside during 1992 and bottled at 28 years of age in 2020. The only clue given is that the distillery is located in the Livet Glen, which narrows the possibilities down to a handful. The whisky has been exclusively matured in an ex-bourbon cask and this has yielded just 260 bottles. It is released at 45.6% ABV and is both non chill-filtered and of natural colour.